Coming Home
by Wind's Gale
Summary: Zuko goes missing one day and Katara is left waiting for his return. Upon finding him again, she learns that he is not the same. Zutara. Written for the Pro-Bending Circuit. Submitted in place of Victorioushouseofnightfan.


**Hey guys, so this is the first story of the second season of the Pro-bending Circuit I am in, and the challenge this week was to have someone come back home after they were thought to be dead. The prompts I used were** **(dialogue) "It can't be… It's been so long…",(location) Ember Island from Medium, and the restriction of no character names used.** **I hope you enjoy this story!** **Word Count: 1,057**

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As she walks towards their shared beach house with her toddler daughter in tow, tears start forming in her deep blue eyes. It has been a long two years since, without a trace, the firebender disappeared, along with his personal group of soldiers. They had been on their way to a small Earth Kingdom village, which technically was a Fire Nation village since the Fire Lord had taken it over, that had been plagued by many fires and deaths due to rioting.

These riots were overshadowed when the first waterbending Fire Queen learned that her husband and his soldiers had never made it to the village. A search party went out to find them, but after three months of searching the entire Earth Kingdom, they came to the conclusion that they were all killed by a large and powerful group of earthbenders, who had been taking out Fire Nation soldiers left and right.

The firebender, before he left, told her to wait for him at their beach house in Ember Island, and there she still is, waiting for the man that stole her heart to come back. Graciously, her now uncle-in-law was kind enough to be the stand-in Fire Lord until she or the firebender came back to the Palace.

Unknown to the firebender, the day he left was going to be a big day. The waterbender had finally mustered up the courage to tell him that she was three months pregnant with their child, but due to his abrupt departure, she was not able to tell him. Now that same baby is a toddler with her second birthday coming up.

When the waterbender looks down at her daughter, she feels a wave of sadness wash over her. Her daughter has his beautiful golden eyes and his jet black hair, but her skin complexion. Every time the waterbender watches her, she sees the firebender's traits already embedded in her. His stubbornness when she wants something, his impatient manners when something was taking too long, his hot-headedness whenever she does not think something through and goes for it, and there are so many more that makes the Fire Queen love and miss him even more.

Sighing, she pushes open the door with her free hand, hoping that one day there would be even the slightest of clues that would lead her to her husband. Inside the house, she suddenly notices that there is a trail of what looks like swamp gunk all over the floor, leading to her bedroom.

Sensing trouble, she sets down her daughter, and pulls out the water in her pouch. Slowly walking towards her bedroom door, she hears what sounds like heavy breathing and a raspy voice, which sounded very familiar, talking to himself.

Immediately the Waterbender drops the water and bursts through the door, wanting to see if her mind was playing tricks, or if it was truly who she thought it was. Looking around the room, the one thing she was looking for caught her attention: His beautiful golden eyes. It's the Firebender.

"It can't be… It's been so long…" the waterbender spouts, disbelief evident in her eyes. Her daughter toddles over to her mother, grasping upon her leg with curiosity over the strange man.

No response comes from the firebender as he stares off into space, swamp gunk dripping off of him.

"Honey, are you okay?" questions the Fire Queen, walking towards her husband, wrapping her arms around his warm and familiar body.

Silence fills the room as the firebender continues to stare off into space, clearly lost in his thoughts.

"Please answer me, don't shut me out. I…I need you, please don't leave me." cries the waterbender, her emotions finally overwhelming her.

"…Gone…"

"What? Darling, you have to speak in complete sentences, who's gone?" the waterbender asks while taking her daughter into her arms before rubbing his back soothingly. "You can tell me what happened, I'll be here for you."

"They're gone. Every single one of them."

"Are you talking about your soldiers?"

"They weren't just my soldiers, they were friends. I always knew they had my back, but when they needed me the most, I abandoned them."

"What do you mean by 'abandoned'?"

"Don't you see? It should have been ME WHO DIED, NOT THEM! THEY ALL HAD FAMILIES AND LOVED ONES AND NOW THEY HAVE NO ONE. THEY SACRIFICED THEMSELVES FOR ME, AND I DON'T UNDERSTAND WHY." the Fire Lord screams, angry tears streaming down his face.

"You might be the Fire Lord, but that's not the only reason they sacrificed themselves for you." the Fire Queen says softly, trying to calm him down.

"What other reason could there be?"

"The day I met you, I saw something in you that was buried deep inside you that I wanted to let out: compassion. If your father or your sister were in your shoes at this moment, they wouldn't care about the loss of those human lives. No, they would forget about it the moment they came home, but you…you are so special and you don't even realize it. I waited here for two years, not leaving at all because I believed in you. Your soldiers sacrificed their lives for you because they believed that you would make a change and that the world would be better with you in it. You ARE the difference between the nation failing or prospering. They knew that. They not only died for you but for their nation. You are the world to these people. You are the world to me."

"….", the Fire Lord grows quiet, lost in his thoughts again. She wraps an arm around him, pulling him close as she holds both her daughter and her husband.

"I love you." the waterbender says.

No verbal response comes. Instead, he wraps his arms around her. The young daughter snuggles against her mother with confusion about what to make of the strange man.

She sighs. She doesn't know how long until he is back to his normal self or even if he will return to it. All she knows is that he is home and she will be there to help him anyway she can.

Knowing that her husband is safe and sound, she closes her eyes, surrounded by the warmth of the man who stole her heart, and finally gave it back.


End file.
